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Trivia: Musical Terms

Subject : trivia
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Indicating speed.






2. A portion of the range of the instrument or voice.






3. A form of Italian opera beginning at the end of the 19th century. The setting is contemporary to the composer's own time - and the characters are modeled after every day life.






4. A piece of music played at the end of a recital responding to the audiences enthusiastic reaction to the performance - shown by continuous applause.






5. A mild glissando between two notes for an expressive effect.






6. A set of six musicians who perform a composition written for six parts.






7. A musical form where the principal theme is repeated several times. The rondo was often used for the final movements of classical sonata form works.






8. A group singing in unison.






9. In sheet music - a symbol at the beginning of the staff defining the pitch of the notes found in that particular staff.






10. Word to indicate the movement or entire composition is to be played very slow and serious.






11. Three to four movement orchestral piece - generally in sonata form.






12. Lowest female singing voice.






13. A short piece originally preceded by a more substantial work - also an orchestral introduction to opera - however not lengthy enough to be considered an overture.






14. A musical scale having five notes.For example: the five black keys of a keyboard make up a pentatonic scale.






15. A quick - improvisational - spirited piece of music.






16. Three notes played in the same amount of time as one or two beats.






17. Primary theme or subject that is developed.






18. A song or hymn celebrating Christmas.






19. Three note chords consisting of a root - third - and fifth.






20. Atonal and violent style used as a means of evoking heightened emotions and states of mind.






21. A string of chords played in succession.






22. Groups of tones that are harmonious when sounded together as in a chord.






23. The interval between two notes. Three whole tones and one semitone make up the distance between the two notes.






24. Pertaining to the sonata form - a fast movement in triple time.






25. Music written for a lively French dance for two performers written in triple time.






26. A symbol indicating the note is to be raised by one semitone.






27. Male singers who were castrated to preserve their alto and soprano vocal range.






28. Harsh - discordant - and lack of harmony. Also a chord that sounds incomplete until it resolves itself on a harmonious chord.






29. Movement or passage that concludes the musical composition.






30. The period of music history which dates from the mid 1700's to mid 1800's. The music was spare and emotionally reserved - especially when compared to Romantic and Boroque music.






31. A canon where the melody is sung in two or more voices. After the first voice begins - the next voice starts singing after a couple of measures are played in the preceding voice. All parts repeat continuously.






32. A sequence of chords that brings an end to a phrase - either in the middle or the end of a composition.






33. A symbol indicating the note is to be raised by one semitone.






34. Harsh - discordant - and lack of harmony. Also a chord that sounds incomplete until it resolves itself on a harmonious chord.






35. A musical composition written solely to improve technique. Often performed for artistic interest.






36. A loose collection of instrumental compositions.






37. The manner in which tones are produced with regard to pitch.






38. One of the two modes of the tonal system. The minor mode can be identified by the dark - melancholic mood.






39. The playing or singing the upper half of the vocal range. Also the highest voice in choral singing.






40. A combination of two or more staves on which all the notes are vertically aligned and performed simultaneously in differing registers and instruments.






41. Where the musical themes and melodies are developed - written in sonata form.






42. A successive transposition and repetition of a phrase at different pitches.






43. The opening section of a piece of music or movement.






44. Direction to performer to play a composition in a brisk - lively - and spirited manner.






45. Male singers who were castrated to preserve their alto and soprano vocal range.






46. Combining a number of individual but harmonizing melodies. Also known as counterpoint.






47. A harmonic given off by a note when it is played.






48. The first violin in an orchestra.






49. A line in a contrapuntal work performed by an individual voice or instrument.






50. Successive notes of a key or mode either ascending or descending.